The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-11-10
[American Agriculturist.l
Winter Care of Cows.

The arrangement Of the barn and
yard should be such as to reduce the
labor as much as possible. Excessive
warmth is not conducive to robust
ness, health or profit. If a mans
house is kept closed up and heated
with stoves to a temperature Of eighty
degrees. and his food and drink are all
taken hot with view to preventing
the effects of the cold and to insure
more comfort, the dwellers in that
house will become sick or diseased;
the impure air will poison the blood;
the warmth will relax the skin, dry it
and open the pores, and the slightest
draft will cause fit Of shivering aud
induce dangerous colds. 1t is in pre-
cisely such houses that sore throat,
diphtheria, scarlet fever, and other
diseases are SO frequent, while in the
house where the windows are thrown
open to the breezes, and the cold,
brisk, pure air is welcomed, and exer-
else and health give warmth, fed by
the abundant oxygen Of the fresh air
coursing through the blood, there are
health and yigor and comfort. 1t is
the same in the dairy. Pleuro-pneu-
monia invades those herds which are
kept. in close, warm, unwholesome sta
bles, and the dreaded tuberculosis finds
there its prey; while from the wide,
airy stable, we'll ventilated and filled
with pure cold air, the we'll fed cows
will emerge to frolic in the snow, and
enjoy themselves in the bright sun
shine and the crisp air, when the ther-
mometer marks down nearly to zero.
Except in stormy weather, the cows
should spend at least three or four
hours every day in the yard, picking
some rough feed and getting water
and exercise.
The present tendency may be car
ried to excess in this respect, and the
recommendation to warm water for
the cows, and to keep them confined
in a stable warmed by stoves for
weeks at a time, is not conducive to
the health of the cows or the product
or quality of the butter. 1t may be
economical in regard to food used.
but, in our Judgment, the more food
the cows can be induced to eat health
fully, the better for the dairy; and
the vital warmth is more BEAUTIFULLY
sustained by good food than by that
kept up by excluding fresh air and
combining the cows in close warm sta
bles Nature provides the cows with
a thick, soft, woolly blanket under
the outer coat Of hair, and the cover
ing of a sleek, well fed, we'll brushed
and carded cow is as warm as mans
overcoat, which he would not think
of wearing indoors. For these rea-
sons, we object to anything in the
management of winter dairy which
will increase the labor and care with
out adequate compensation, and above
all, which will tend to lower the con-
dition and vigor Of the cows.
To preserve healthful condition,
maintain the vital warmth, and keep
the skin in proper action, thorough
carding and brushing should not be
neglected in winter dairy, and the
utmost cleanliness in every respect
should be observed. Abundant sup
plies of absorbents, Of which dried
swamp muck is the best, and hard
wood sawdust and fresh leaves next,
and in place Of these cut straw, or any
other fine waste material should be
procured. The winter dairy is a grand |
opportunity for making manure, and
the improvement of a farm, and to
this end every possible economy in
saving and preserving the manure
should be exercised. The feeding
must be liberal and of the best food.
1t must be regular in quality, quanti-
ty and time; because out of the food
the butter must come, and in quality
and quantity will be exactly equiva-
lent to the food given.